Okay so without being on the farm I don't have a lot of pictures to post lately so we're just going to go with a normal post today.  As you saw from yesterday's post I'm working on getting ready daily so I can feel pretty and good about myself.  I think this is of great importance... especially to homemakers, housewives, stay at home mom's, whatever you call yourself... So here's another tip that some of you may or may not like...

I'm the youngest in my family... two sisters and one brother make four of us.  There is such a wide gap between my oldest sister and I that we actually never even lived together.  So it was left up to my other sister to bear the brunt of my admiration... you know... the whole mimicking, following around, and going into her room whence she forbid me to do so.  There was this one thing this sister of mine did that I always found a bit strange but it seemed to work perfect for her.  In the beginning of the week or so... she would paint her toenails... now she had pretty bad eyesight as do I and painting our toenails was something we could never perfect.  So what did she do?  She threw perfection straight out the window...

My sister would paint her toenails with no regard for being neat and "keeping between the lines" if you will.  She just painted them messily getting the polish on her skin... all she did carefully was make sure the nail was covered in polish evenly.  Her strategy behind this craziness was that with each shower every day for the rest of the week the nail polish would come off her skin around her nails and by the time Friday night came... She'd have perfectly painted toenails!

Does it work?  Well enough for me!  I didn't use a dark color which might of course make a bit of a difference but I used a pink nail polish... just spread it on not worrying about where it was going, just making sure to get it on my nail and a couple of days (showers) later... Perfectly painted toenails!  I feel so pretty!! 

Give it a try... it might just work for you too!
 
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Okay so this post is for all you mama's who don't have time to do your hair in them morning with your little one(s) running around!  That was me until just last week... the most I could do for myself is shower, get dressed, and maybe put a little makeup on, but when it came time to do my hair... my little monster was done waiting on me so up went my wet hair into one of those half pulled through ponytails. 

Pre-baby I always curled my hair with a curling iron... I love my hair when it's curled and so does my husband.  WELL... I found a new way to get beautiful curls with an effort of only about 30 seconds!  Have any of you ever heard of the "Sock Bun"?  Well this is brand new to me and I cannot believe the result... I'll post a video at the end of my post but basically you take a sock, snip off the part where your toes go and roll it up into a doughnut.  Then you roll your hair into the sock tube from the end of a pony tail... sleep in it over night and in the morning... voila!

Honestly as much as I LOVE these sock bun curls... the real discovery I made was showering at night.  This was something I NEVER did... I never knew how much it would help a homemaker like me.  Showering at night, while my husband is bathing our little man, completely changes my morning routine into a simple 5 to 10 minute process instead of an hour long struggle.  When I wake up in the morning all I have to do is brush my teeth, wash my face, dab on a little makeup, throw some clothes on and... take out the sock bun and I'm ready to go!  With hair looking as though I spent a good 30 minutes to an hour curling it!  I could wake up just 5 to 10 minutes before baby boy and be completely ready by the time he wakes up!

This may seem like a silly post to some but I had to share this experience in case there are any brand new homemakers/mommies out there reading this.  It is very difficult for some to focus on themselves and get showered and ready every single day with kiddos running around.  My son is going on two years old and I have struggled that entire time in getting my self ready each day looking and feeling pretty.  I think doing that for yourself is SO important and can make a woman feel so much better about herself.  And I can't believe something so simple as showering at night and this sock bun could do that for me and completely change my life.

I hope this helps someone out there like it helped me! :) http://threeyearsofdeath.blogspot.com/2011/07/easy-no-heat-curls.html

Other Magickal Happenings
Magick From the Farm

 
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Okay so it's not exactly a secret but I wasn't aware of this until after I was married... so in case there's anyone similar to me reading my blog... did you know you can make hundreds of delicious recipes using different Campbell's soups??  I know, I know... my blog is all about homemade right?  Well no actually... it's about being a homemaker and sometimes being a homemaker gets mighty hectic and you need a secret book of magickal recipes that turn into gourmet meals in just a few easy steps!  And this homemaker uses Campbell's soup to help make magick in the kitchen every once in a while. 

This is a book I bought FOREVER ago and as you can see it's seen better days... I honestly bought it for the vintage appeal and never even looked in it for years.  Then one day after being married for a few months I pulled it off the shelf in hopes I would get an idea for a meal to make my husband... Well... I did and he fell in LOVE with it!  So it's a great way to have a delicious meal that can be made not only quickly but when something more extravagant isn't affordable.

Just remember it's okay to make some shortcuts sometimes... the point is that you are making a delicious, nutritional meal for you and your family.  And if that can be done with a little less stress, time and money then that will make everyone happy!

 
My husband has been making some over night trips here and there, so my little monster and I have been spending a lot of quality time together recently... Just him and I.  He is growing so fast and he is soaking up absolutely everything around him.  I couldn't be more proud of him... He's beginning to form sentences that just melt my heart like "No phone mommy!" and "No bness mommy! No bness!" which is his version of No Business.... which is what I tell him I'm doing when I'm doing important things like budgeting or I don't know... ahem... blogging... ahem.  Of course when he does this my heart goes pitty pat and I stop whatever I'm doing and scoop him up into my arms and give him tickle kisses. 

The time when my husband and I agreed we would start trying for our second is quickly coming upon us and I have to admit I am wishing the clock would stop.  So much of my heart feels like why... when my monster and I are in perfect harmony... would we do something to change that?  I ache a bit on the inside when I think of another baby coming in and taking away these precious moments my son and I share together.  But when I give it a moment... I realize... there's so much love overflowing from both my son's and my hearts... why wouldn't we share it with another?

My little man is so incredibly smart, I can see him teaching his baby sibling all that he knows and being so incredibly helpful.  I can see him showering his baby sibling with not only love but kisses, lessons, and advice.  In fact when I see what he has to offer, it's then that I think to myself... how could I not give this son of mine a brother or a sister.  He was born to be a big brother... he has all the makings of the smart, strong, protective and loving older brother that so many who never had one wish they did.

I also realized that all that overflowing love I have felt for my son is being locked up and treasured... waiting to be released so that it can shower over our next child who will be loved just as much.  For that is what a mother's heart is made out of... endless magickal love for ALL her children.
 
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Remember tonight is a full moon!  The full moon in the month of August is called the Sturgeon Moon... Native American tribes gave it this name because they believed the night of the full moon in August was the best time to catch Sturgeon Fish in the Great Lakes.

A full moon is believed to be a time for meditation, giving thanks, abundance, wish fulfillment, and of course harvest.  Pagans worship the full moon and draw their energy from it and according to Almanac.com... for the best tasting Sauerkraut, make it just after the full moon!  It is also a time of heightened feelings and major decisions should not be made during this time. 

Following the full moon comes the waning moon.  A time for letting go, undoing, and breaking bad habits. 

I hope you'll be able to see the moon tonight in all it's beauty... and just remember... if odd things begin to happen today... you can probably relate it to the moon being full!
 
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This is the simplest sewing project I've ever done!  It's as easy as taking a shirt... cutting it in half... sewing a seam and threading through some elastic!  I did find it a bit difficult as I was sewing the seam... I've never sewn t-shirt material before and it began to pull and move on it's own.  So the end result is a tiny bit messy but no one would be able to tell but me.  After I did this I basically grabbed every t-shirt that I don't wear anymore and I have them in a pile to start making skirts out of!  They great thing is that they all come out a little different... Today I've already made two skirts!  The one pictured below is perfect for a simple summer day... the other one I made turned into a cute black mini that's best suited for a night out on the town.  That one I accidentally left in the bedroom and daddy is putting our little man to sleep so I don't want to disturb them.  I'll add the picture of the black one tomorrow!  Give this a try... even if you don't a sewing machine you really could do this by hand it would just take a little longer that's all... This is a great way to recycle old shirts and to update your wardrobe!  Even if you don't have any shirts to spare and even if you're tight on money take a trip to the thrift store and buy some old t-shirts for $1.99!  The shirt I used below was a golf shirt... a bit different than a t-shirt but it came out great!
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Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  I'm sitting here watching my son play "baseball/golf" and trying to get back into a normal routine after dropping Grandma off at the airport this weekend.  I am feeling much better and we are still waiting for the results of my biopsy to see what in the world was going on!

I am missing the farm terribly.  It looks like that has come to an end since Grandma has left and no one can watch Cole while I work at the farm.  We are thinking however of sometimes going as a family on any weekend they may need help.  I loved working there and I'm so glad I not only have pictures to remember it by but I'm pretty sure I've made lifelong friends.  Who knows... maybe we'll have neighboring farms one day!

I also have to get back into my cleaning routine... When Grandma is around she likes to take over the cleaning aspect of things and I have the type of mom where if you tell her that's not necessary and that you'll take care of it all she'll feel as though she's not needed.  So I let her do as she pleases and I really do not mind the help... but she's gone back home and it's back to work for me.  I don't mind at all though doing it myself either because although my mother is a big help... there are just some small things I like done my way.  So far today breakfast has been fed, and the kitchen is clean.  Next is some laundry and a shower and then hopefully today I'll be able to get around to preparing some beets to be dehydrated.

It is also a beautiful cloudy day and as soon as the thunder goes away I think a walk in the rain will might be necessary (don't worry I have a rain cover for my little man's stroller...quite convenient actually!).          

Other Magickal Happenings
Made From Scratch
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A dear friend of mine back in Arizona sent me a message on Facebook telling me she was looking through a magazine that reminded her of me... Well of course I had to check it out and lo' and behold I LOVE IT!!  The issue you are seeing to the left is the issue I picked up from Barnes and Noble... It seriously does have recommendations for "Girl-Friendly Chain Saws"! It might be a while before I buy myself a chain saw but I'll definitely become a subscriber to this magazine in the future when money allows. 

Mary Jane is a farmer in Idaho who also has two retail stores, and a bed and breakfast!  I'd LOVE to visit her farm one day! 

So a big thanks to my friend L for being a great friend who knows me so well even though we are miles apart.  Oh and speaking of... She's an incredibly talented mama herself!! Check out her Etsy shop Kisses and Kings!!

 
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